General News

The clock finally struck midnight for the Cinderella Rattlers. The magic ran out for the Medicine Hat College Women’s Basketball team at the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference final four. A 68-54 upset victory over the Mount Royal Cougars on Friday led the Rattlers to the Conference Championship game Saturday night at Concordia University College in Edmonton against the host Thunder. And though they never stopped battling throughout the title match, the underdogs came up just short, falling 72-59 to cap off their remarkable playoff run with silver medals.

 

“It’s a roller-coaster ride of emotion right now,” said Rattlers Head Coach Jason McLester
. “I’m just extremely proud of our girls. We’ve had a tremendous run for the past month and played the toughest teams in Alberta and beat them. It would have been great to come home with the gold tonight, but there’s nothing wrong with silver. My hat’s off to Concordia. They deserved to win it tonight.”

 

The host Thunder may have ended up winning, but it was the Rattlers who dominated the opening minutes of the game. Posts Mallory Jones
and Alyssa Dunn silenced the capacity hometown crowd by combining for 11 points to Concordia’s lone three-pointer.

The home side didn’t roll over after falling behind early. They hit back-to-back three-pointers to take a slim 18-17 lead into the second quarter. The Thunder really started to pick up their game from that point, while the Rattlers’ inside game that dominated the early stages stalled. Concordia won the quarter 16-7 to go up 34-24 at halftime.

The closest the Rattlers were able to get in the second half came early in the third quarter, as two quick baskets and a free throw made it 38-33 Concordia. Kelsey Rowntree sank an acrobatic layup and Jodi Leinweber stole the Thunder’s ensuing throw in, sank her layup while getting fouled and knocked down the subsequent free throw. 

 

McLester took a technical foul with 1:19 left in the third after he argued a traveling violation on Mallory Jones
, who appeared to get fouled on the play. The Thunder regained their cushion and took a 52-43 advantage into the final frame. Rowntree hit a jumper with 2:49 left to cut the gap to 65-57, but the Thunder hit their free throws in the dying minutes to capture the title.

 

“We came out firing just like we wanted to,” said McLester. “But Concordia being a very good team, they responded. They made some adjustments, and we struggled from there.”

 

The Thunder are now guaranteed a berth at the Canadian College Athletic Association national championships March 14-16 at Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro, but there’s still a chance the Rattlers could be going as well, since wildcard berths have not been decided. If Medicine Hat is denied a trip to nationals, it will likely mark the end of Rowntree, Leinweber, Cori Jones and Rebecca Hartshorn’s careers with the program.

 

“I’m so proud of the girls for making it this far,” said Jones, a fourth-year post. “We were definitely the underdogs, and unfortunately, Concordia played an awesome game tonight and we didn’t. Our pride was on the line this weekend, and I think we did ourselves and our school proud.”

 

Rowntree tried to soak in the memories her team made. “The loss is really disappointing, but I’m so proud of everyone on our team for working so hard to get this far,” added Rowntree, a third-year Rattler. “It’s the memory of a lifetime and something that I’ll never forget.”

 

Ryan Frankson

Special to The News

EDMONTON